The constitution of the Second Reich Kaiser, Chancellor and Reichstag

Keywords-Connector Kaiser Chancellor Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945 the title of the Holy Roman Emperors or the emperors of Austria or of Germany until 1918 the person who is head of state

Outcomes All student to know the roles of the Kaiser, Chancellor and Reichstag Most to be able to see how their powers would be limited Some to relate Germany’s constitution to Britain’s

The roles Germany’s constitution did not evolve like Britian’s It was introduced during the formation of the German state Why would this cause problems? What happened to Britain's constitution

The Candidates Who?Powers?Problems? Kaiser Reichstag Chancellor

Otto von Bismarck During the reign of Kaiser William I ( ), Bismarck (nicknamed the Iron Chancellor) was the most powerful man in the Empire and completely dominated the government of the Reich.

The Constitution Prussia dominated the new Germany that was called the Second Reich. It covered two thirds of the land area and contained the same proportion of the population. It had practically all the industry. The new constitution drawn up by Bismarck was a Federal system. –Each of the twenty-five states had considerable control over their affairs and decided their own form of government; e.g. Bavaria and Saxony were ruled by kings. –Under the constitution there were to be three branches of the Federal government:

The People The Presidency which was held by the King of Prussia (as German Emperor). The German Emperor had considerable powers. He had personal control of the armed forces. He appointed and dismissed all ministers including the Chancellor. The Federal Council (or Bundesrat) represented the different states of the Empire. It had fifty-eight members. Seventeen were from Prussia, six from Bavaria, four from Saxony. It had the power to change the constitution. However no change could be made to the constitution if fourteen delegates objected. This in practice meant that Prussia could always stop change. The Parliament or Reichstag was elected by Universal Male Suffrage (all males over 25 could vote) and Secret Ballot. It voted on the Federal budget and its consent was needed for all legislation. This was the most advanced system in Europe at this time.

But…. However, the powers of the Reichstag were limited: It could not initiate legislation. It had no say in the appointment or dismissal of the Chancellor or Imperial ministers. The Imperial Chancellor was appointed by the Emperor. He was in charge of foreign policy. The Kaiser (in effect Bismarck) could dissolve it any time with the agreement of the Bundesrat

The Kulturkampf After unification about two-thirds of Germans were Protestant (mainly Lutheran) while about one-third were Catholics Why would this cause problems?

Make notes on (Sub headings) Constitution Federal State Kaiser / Kaiser Wilhelm II The Chancellor Budesrat Reichstag Army Bureaucracy

Resources ermany/2ndreich/index.htmlhttp:// ermany/2ndreich/index.html mhttp:// m

Examples Find –Examples of use of power by the Kaiser/ Reichstag/ Chancellor –Find out examples of weaknesses of power by the Kaiser/ Reichstag/ Chancellor

Review Do the first part of this –